


Who Knows First?

by Yurika



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 03:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5524109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yurika/pseuds/Yurika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto knew from the very beginning how special they were for each other.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>It had been a rocky path until those two found to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Knows First?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [makuroshi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/makuroshi/gifts).



> Hey, makuroshi!  
> I really hope you will like this little fanfiction I wrote for you.  
> After reading or even through the tags you might have noticed which prompt I chose and I really hope that it is the way you imagined it to be!  
> Have fun while reading!

It's always something different to see a friend fall in love and start a relationship. The meaningful looks they give each other. Their shy way of speaking or even fights, which seem more like a old married couple's bickering. The way their hands brush, their shoulders touch whilst walking alongside or even the way they realize it as the last people in their group of friends how hopelessly in love they are. A smile hushed over Makoto's features.  

That was also the way he felt while he had the chance to witness how his best friend fell in love, fought for this love and even ended up in a relationship. It had been an experience Makoto would never forget. The way Haruka looked after Rin the day they met after years and years being apart, the pain in his heart after what they lived through. It all was still burned inside of the mind of Makoto. It had been a rocky way until those two found to each other.  

Makoto huffed as he re-positioned himself on the couch. It had all started years prior as they were teens, nearly out of highschool, though Makoto guessed that it had started even before, the day Rin and Haruka met for the first time, the day they raced each other for the first time. Maybe that had been the day Rin fell for Haruka, the day he decided that Haruka was so very special to him. Haruka on the other hand must have felt that this person was special to him the day he was about to lose him, the day he learned that Rin would go to Australia. That must have been the day he really knew that Rin was someone very special to him.  

Makoto closed his eyes. Though, he had to admit that they didn't really fall in love as children, they just noticed the other to be special, someone they didn't want to lose ever. But it started the rocky path that followed later. Rin left for Australia and that had been the time Makoto had seen Haruka feeling so lonely for the first time. There had been a hole in Haruka's heart Makoto couldn't ever fill, he wasn't enough for Haruka to be able to make him enjoy competitive swimming. Though he did swim in competitions for a long time after Rin left, until one day it stopped.  

Until now Makoto didn't know why Haruka had stopped to that time, what he knew though, was that it had something to do with Rin's return around that time. After that their childhood had passed like any other, they had played and learned, went to school and returned home, their parents became friends and Haruka visited often, just as Makoto visited him. Makoto opened his eyes again, he looked up to the ceiling. What couldn't be changed though, was the pain Haruka went through as Rin wasn't around.

The day they saw Rin again, after so many years, was maybe the most painful memory Makoto had. Rin's behaviour was horrible, it wasn't like him at all, not like the overly cheerful kid he knew from their days of school. He had seen Haruka's face as they readied themselves for that race, it wasn't a face Makoto wished to see again. The jumbled mess of hurt and maybe even hope. Makoto swallowed as he closed his eyes again. Yes it had been one of the most horrible memories when thinking about those two. Though no relationship starts easy, does it? He smiled, a rocky path indeed.

What followed to that encounter was something even more painful, Rin rejecting to speak to them, going to a different school after his return, them founding the club. All a great struggle to get back to Rin, it hadn't been Haruka's idea though, it after all was something Nagisa and Makoto had thought a lot about, but never came around to do and after meeting Rin they even had another great reason to found it. A yawn escaped his mouth before he opened his eyes again. At this rate he would fall asleep.

Makoto guessed it had been around that time that those two -especially Haruka- began to form feelings for each other, feelings which rooted deeper than you had for a friend. The day of the relay, that day was very special. It really was. Makoto was still so very grateful for Rei to have done this. It had been selfish of them, yet it was a wonderful and a very special memory, a memory that brought them back to their childhood, the days they had fun together and swum relays together. It was the greatest reminder about how special their friendship was, apart from that Rin and Haruka had seemed to have resolved the conflict between them.  

From that day on they had fun together, from time to time they met up all together or just a few of them. It had been around that time that Makoto really noticed a change in their behaviour. The way Rin's gaze lingered too long on Haruka's figure or how Haruka tried to cook less mackerel especially when Rin was coming over, how he cooked meat just the way Rin liked it, avoided making sweet things.

Makoto smiled again once more closing his eyes. The smiles Haruka had on his face that were solely directed to Rin. Rin being overly touchy yet mostly keeping it to Haruka, laying his arm around Haruka's shoulders or trying to tease him for the littlest thing. Them bickering sometimes about the most ridiculous stuff, Rin whining around, Haruka being stubborn. Makoto laughed shortly, those days were truly funny. Whilst everyone around them noticed their changed behaviour they themselves seemed to be oblivious.  

Though soon enough Makoto's smile dropped again. Those funny and happy days also just held long enough for the teachers to ask about their futures. Haruka, Makoto had never in his life had a fight with Haruka thus, when it happened it felt like a punch in the gut, the way Haruka had shouted at him, the way he ran away just like that. Makoto huffed, luckily enough though Rin was there. Makoto had spoken to him, he told him about Haruka's problem. He after all had as a kid managed to drag Haruka towards swimming relay, he could do it once again, had been Makoto's thoughts to that time.

In the end his intuition hadn't been wrong. Rin took Haruka to Australia with himself, and the day they returned Haruka was like a whole new person. He knew what to do, he had a dream, a goal and all thanks to Rin. Up until this day Makoto asked himself, how those two hadn't known how special they were for each other, how they hadn't noticed that their feelings were a slight bit more than friendly.  

Again Makoto had to laugh. Remembering the day they finally got together. They hadn't said it at first, but Makoto had known, as when they met their behaviour once again had changed, Rin was touching less, Haruka was less reactive. It seemed like they tried to hide something, which made it even more obvious, though Makoto ignored it for the sake of the two. He wanted them to say it themselves, that they were in a relationship and how they ended up in it.  

It took them another six months to come out. Makoto didn't know if he was hurt that it took so long for them to come out, or relieved that they did it at all. Cause he of all people knew how hard it was to tell with whom you are in a relationship to your closest friends, or not? A loving smile overtook Makoto's features as he opened his eyes and looked down at the lying person on his chest. 

"Good night." With a kiss he also closed his eyes, maybe they should go to bed, but it wouldn't hurt too much to stay on the couch, huh?


End file.
